25 Apr 2022 | Non categorizzato
“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” This is the word of life that we are trying to put into practice during April 2022. Chiara Lubich’s words also encourage us to be witnesses of the Gospel. How can we bear witness to Jesus? By living the new life he brought on earth, which is the life of love, and by showing others its fruits. With every neighbour I meet, I have to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit who helps me to “make myself one” with them and to serve them as perfectly as possible. The Spirit gives me the strength I need to love my neighbours even if, in some way, they are my enemies. It is the Spirit who enriches my heart with mercy, enabling me to forgive and understand their needs. It is the Spirit who makes me zealous in communicating, at the right time, all the beautiful things I most treasure in my soul… The love of Jesus is revealed and passed on to others through my love. It is like a magnifying glass that concentrates the rays of the sun. When you hold a magnifying glass over some straw, the concentration of the sun’s rays causes the temperature to rise and the straw catches fire. If instead we simply put the straw in the sun, it does not catch fire. The same can be true for people. They might seem to be indifferent to religion but sometimes – because this is what God wants – when they are in contact with someone who participates in God’s love, they “catch fire” because that person is like a magnifying glass that concentrates the rays, giving them fire and light. With and through this love of God in our hearts, we can reach further and further, and share our discovery with many other people:
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich in [Words of Life], Città Nuova, 2017, pages 691/2)
22 Apr 2022 | Non categorizzato
An empty tomb, a light that illuminates the world and in its trail, we can build bridges of true unity. Heike Vesper, Enno Dijkema and Mervat Kelli, focolarini from different Christian Churches, tell us about Easter. “Easter is the centre of the Christian faith, it is the mystery of Salvation. Without Easter there is no Christianity. Jesus became incarnate to save us. All Christians believe in the same Jesus Christ who died and rose again.” These are the words that Mervat Kelli, an Orthodox focolarina from Syria, used to indicate to us the fertile ground where nothing ends but everything begins; the tangible space where we can meet, share and be enveloped by the light of the Resurrection. This is the ecumenical meaning of Easter, the inheritance that Christ leaves us. “It’s a time to adore him,” says Enno Dijkema, a Catholic focolarino from Holland. “Jesus,” he continues, “loves us to the point of abandonment to the Father, even unto death. He gives everything! I can safely entrust to him all my miseries, my limitations and everyone’s suffering. There is no darkness that is not overcome by the light of his love.” Heike Vesper, a German focolarina from the Lutheran Church, says that Easter means that Jesus Forsaken “has healed our relationship with the Father. In his cry, in his ‘why’” she says, “I find all my ‘whys’ and my anxieties.” Every resurrection is preceded by a period of waiting, the time to wait as Mary did, under the cross, without knowing what to do. There is the silence and the darkness of Holy Saturday before the dawn of Sunday arrives with the fire, the liturgy of light and the renewal of baptism”. Easter is a time of great communion with one’s brothers and sisters, rooted in an attitude of forgiveness. As Mervat says, “In the Syrian Orthodox Church to which I belong, Easter is called ‘the great feast’. The preparation begins at the beginning of Lent with the consecration of the oil of reconciliation. At the end of the liturgy, each member of the faithful dips a piece of cotton wool in the consecrated oil and goes towards, one by one, to ask for their forgiveness – bringing his or her own and receiving theirs in turn. They draw a small cross on their foreheads and say: ‘I forgive you with all my heart, let this oil be the sign of my forgiveness. I ask you to forgive me.'” The various traditions and the different forms of liturgy represent a great richness, and being able to live them together, as often happens in the Focolare Movement, highlights “the immensity of God Love” as Heike says. She continues, “For some time now, I’ve been living in a community with Catholics, and it is precisely these liturgies that we try to live together if the timetable of the celebrations allows it. So, almost every year on Good Friday we go together first to the Lutheran church and then to the Catholic church. The same thing at Easter.” “For me this is the first Easter in Italy,” says Enno, “but in Holland I have been able to attend the Good Friday service with the Protestant member of my focolare. It was good to do that.” Mervat, who according to the Julian calendar is preparing to celebrate the Orthodox Easter on 24th April this year, has been in Italy for some years now and has the joy of participating in all the services of the Catholic Church with other focolarine. She feels this is a wonderful opportunity: “We still have different dates, but we have the same faith, the same hope, the same Love of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We all have the same commandment: love one another as I have loved you. This is the key that opens the door to unity.”
Maria Grazia Berretta
21 Apr 2022 | Non categorizzato
The Gospel speaks of God’s love. Sowing seeds that carry this proclamation and choosing to live it out is an expression of the beautiful, fruitful freedom we have been given. Condominium meeting When notice of the condominium meeting arrived, my first thought was to find an excuse and avoid this commitment. My youngest son, hearing me complain about these meetings that I thought were useless, objected. “But Dad, it’s an opportunity to make the whole building a family!” I hadn’t thought of that. But how could I turn that meeting into something beautiful and new? With the help of everyone in the house, we came up with a guessing game for the tenants’ names, their number of children, type of work… Then we made a plan to set up visits and dinners, plus a list of birthdays and other celebrations. The more ideas came up, the more I looked forward to the meeting. And it was a real party. My wife had prepared sweets, the children had prepared cards to set up visits, and our daughter, who was good at drawing, had prepared diplomas and prizes for the winners. Never had the condominium meeting seemed so short as that evening. A different air was beginning to circulate in the building. M., Italy Dolls After Dad’s death, thinking that Mom could no longer live alone, the question went around us children: “Will we be forced to put Mom in a nursing home?” My family lives in an apartment that is too small to house her. But my wife and I decided to trust in God’s providence, and with this in mind we rented for Mom the apartment next to ours, which in the meantime had become available. It seemed like a gamble, but the arrival of our kids’ grandmother enriched their lives and ours. She was very good at making fabric dolls and started giving them as gifts to those who had children. Then a person from the parish saw this and appreciated them, setting up a market where she could sell them along with other sewing items. Today, Mom’s home has become a small craft centre and a school for those with free time. We are happy to see her joyful and practically rejuvenated in feeling useful. H., France The wallet I was visiting my mother in the small town where she lives. I don’t know why, but before passing by, I felt the urge to have a cappuccino at the bar. Spotting a wallet on the floor in front of the cashier, I asked the cashier whose it was. She questioned the customers present, but the wallet did not belong to any of them. Upon examining the contents, the owner’s name was an acquaintance of my mother’s, so through her I could get it to him. The cashier knew my mother, so she trusted me with the wallet. Not far from the bar I saw the owner. I greeted him, we exchanged a few words and then I asked him if he had his wallet with him. When he realized he didn’t have it, I showed it to him. When I left him, he couldn’t stop thanking me. Later, thinking back to that sudden urge to stop by the bar, I realized that sometimes, unknowingly, we become instruments for doing good. M., Slovakia
Edited by Maria Grazia Berretta
From “Il Vangelo del Giorno”, Città Nuova, year VIII, n.2, March–April 2022.
20 Apr 2022 | Non categorizzato
The “Chiara Lubich” Home for the Elderly in the Peruvian Amazon is celebrating its first anniversary. The centre takes care of about fifty abandoned elderly people. “It is our contribution to peace”, say those who support them. 
Just when the Covid-19 crisis was at its worst, the “Chiara Lubich Centre for the Elderly” in the Peruvian Amazon jungle opened its doors on 8 March 2021– after many years the great dream had finally become a reality. “Right from the start, everything arrived as a gift with simplicity,” says Jenny López Arévalo, President of the Centre, “the house, the dishes, the ingredients for lunch for almost 50 elderly people, the chairs, tables, mattresses, sheets… To our surprise, each thing arrived and took its place”. The centre is located in Lámud, an Amazonian town in northwest Peru, 2,330 metres above sea level. A few kilometres away is the little town of Kuelap, an important pre-Inca archaeological site from the Chachapoyas culture. “Teamwork was really important. The volunteers really gave their all,” said Jenny López Arévalo, “There were difficulties but we managed to overcome them by concentrating on living well in the present moment. The months flew by and before we knew it we were celebrating our first anniversary. How exciting! We decided to organise a two-day event with a programme open to the public, involving local institutions, the press and social networks. It was a simple way to thank God and everyone. On the first day, we planned a walk in nature, outside the city, followed by games and dancing. We shared a delicious coffee with tamales (a corn-bashed dish) and sandwiches. We were surprised and excited to see how many people joined us, besides the volunteers – adults and children – to help look after the elderly. It was lovely to see our logo with Chiara Lubich’s face fluttering in the wind. The next day, we began with the Eucharist which was followed with a town festival full of colours, music and traditional dances, just after the national flag in honour of our country was raised by the elderly people. The day finished with a toast with the local authorities present and more traditional dances!” “Many friends from different parts of the world joined us in prayer,” said Javier Varela who acts as administrator for the Centre, “and much of the food we offered arrived as a gift. The elderly were so happy, they really enjoyed the day and, despite being a little tired, we shared their joy. We feel encouraged and strengthened to continue working to make our contribution to peace by taking care of the abandoned elderly who have already become part of our lives”. So one year on, the “Chiara Lubich Centre for the Elderly” is more than just a “Centre”. It is a real “family” that carries out this delicate and important work for the benefit of the least. It is a simple way of sowing seeds of peace every day right there where we live.
Gustavo E. Clariá
18 Apr 2022 | Non categorizzato
Jesus is risen! And he entrusted to us to be witnesses of his living presence among us that would transform society. It’s an invitation to be bearers of the proclamation of the Good News in the environments where we live. Jesus told us that he would be present where two or more are united in his name?[1] Allowing the risen Lord to live in us and in our midst therefore is the secret, the most concrete way to bring about the kingdom of God. It is the kingdom of God in action. … These words are a mandate that Jesus left, not only for his apostles, but for the whole Church and for each one of us. The task of the Church is to witness to the risen Lord, not only by proclaiming him – as his ministers are called to do – but also and above all through the life of each of us who are its members. Witnessing to the Risen Lord means showing the world that Jesus is the living God, and this will be possible if the world sees that Jesus is alive in us. If we live his Word and reject the inclinations of our ‘old self’[2], and if, above all, we keep love for our neighbor alive in our hearts, then the risen Lord will live in us. If we make a special effort to maintain mutual love among us, the risen Lord will live in us and in our midst, and will radiate his light and grace around us, transforming our surroundings and producing incalculable fruits. It will be the risen Lord, through his Spirit, who will guide our steps and our activities. He will be the one who will arrange circumstances and provide us with opportunities to bring his life to those who need him. … We must not underestimate the projects for which we still have to plan, and the technological advances that are offering us new ways to proclaim the Gospel, but there is one thing above all that we must do: we must be his witnesses by allowing the Risen Lord to live in us.
Chiara Lubich
(Chiara Lubich, in [Words of Life], Città Nuova,2017, pages 315/8 [1] See Mt 18:20. [2] See Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10.
14 Apr 2022 | Non categorizzato
Easter greetings from Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement https://youtu.be/AYrr6xg1XmI 
